Otto Armleder was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1862 to German immigrants. He received a degree from the Queen City Commercial College after attending St. Xavier College. He tried his hand at several trades, including flour milling and beer bottling. He eventually began manufacturing carriages, founding the Otto Armleder Carriage Company in the late 1890s. Otto married to Catherine Manss in 1889. When the automobile became popular his company became the Armleder Motor Truck Company, based in Over the Rhine. 

Armleder died in 1935 and was buried at Spring Grove Cemetery. The George Dodds Granite Company constructed a traditional mausoleum out of Victoria White granite having beautiful Corinthian columns and Greek Frets around the front of the building. It stands alone in its own section at the cemetery. After his death, his family sold the company, and his will specified that his wealth go to charitable and civic projects in Hamilton County where he grew up. His family also established the Otto Armleder Trust Fund in 1935; the fund has donated many public buildings and parks to the city.

The Otto Armleder Memorial Park on Wooster Pike and the Armleder School at the Christian Hills Christian Academy are named for him.